Social Sciences, Humanities and Education Journal (SHE Journal)

Volume 2 (3) 221 – 229, September 2021 | ISSN: 2720-9946(Online)ISSN: 2723-3626 (Print)
The article is published with Open Access at: http://e-journal.unipma.ac.id/index.php/SHE

EXPLORING PERCEPTIONS OF STUDENTS AND

TEACHERS TOWARDS CODE-SWITCHING AT
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL IN PAKISTAN
Madiha Rehman , English Lecturer, FAST - National University of Computer & Emerging
Sciences Karachi, Pakistan
Youmna Rehman, Linguistics Student, Jinnah University for Women Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract: This research study concentrates on the insight of students & teachers about code-
switching at the intermediate level in Pakistan. It is evident that Pakistani classrooms are
culturally diverse & teachers used to practice from one language to another to enable their
students to stand on their toes. This research corroborated through the qualitative method
that code-switching is an ultra-practical technique for mixed ability students at intermediate
level. Code-switching not only takes place among students but also among educators to unclog
the learning process. Nonetheless, not many have looked at it from the students' perspective
in response to what they think about their teacher’s code-switching in Pakistan. Therefore, the
researcher took this opportunity to look into pupils' insight about code-switching. The semi-
structured interview was collected from five intermediate students & five lecturers of a well-
known private college in Karachi, Pakistan. The findings of the study indicate that students
show a keen interest in learning the concepts when the teacher does code-switching during
his lecture. Thus, this study suggests that code-switching is an effective teaching strategy when
teaching intermediate students in Pakistani scenarios.

Keywords: Code Switching, insights, Pakistani intermediate classrooms

 [email protected]

Citation: Rehman, M. & Rehman, Y. (2021). Exploring Perceptions of Students & Teachers
towards Code-Switching At Intermediate Level in Pakistan. Social Sciences, Humanities and
Education Journal (SHE Journal), 2(3), 221 – 229. DOI: 10.25273/she.v2i3.10511

Published by Universitas PGRI Madiun. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Rehman, M. & Rehman, Y. SHE Journal

INTRODUCTION however, in western countries code-

switching is considered a facilitating tool
Due to globalization, English enjoys the for students. This research gap enforced
state of Lingua Franca & has become the the researcher to conduct the study in
language of business, technology, the Pakistani context.
medicine & education. Keeping in view The role of code-switching at an
the status of the English language, the intermediate level in Pakistan is quite
teaching of English has been made crucial & unfortunately, very few studies
mandatory from primary to graduate have been done in this domain in the
classes in Pakistan (Abdulloh & Usman, Pakistani context. This instigated the
2021). However, its effectiveness is still researcher to undertake this study
not like as it should be. particularly to understand the
There are several causes of English intermediate student’s insight about
which are struggling for its status in teacher’s language’s switching in
Pakistan & one of the main reasons is the delivering the material to his/her class.
inability of the learners /students to Aims of the study
comprehend what teachers deliver in a 1. To examine students' perception
foreign language (Akram & Mehmood, about teacher’s code-switching
2007). The reason for its ineffectiveness during lecture
is we belong to a multilingual society 2. To investigate the level of student’s
where the medium of instruction is Urdu interest due to code-switching in
however, stakeholders & practitioners class
already have tried to handle the inability Research questions
of this problem & according to them, and To reach these aims the following
the strongest measure is “Code research questions were set forth:
Switching” which is an up-shot of 1. What are students' perceptions
bilingualism. Lie (2010) defines code- about teachers' code-switching
switching as “the use of two languages in during the lecture?
the same discourse’ this definition 2. What are the major factors that lead
provides us with the simplest way to the teacher to switch codes during
understand that code-switching is the his/her lecture?
conversational strategy that helps the
students to comprehend the concept Review of literature
entirely". Teachers do code-switching to Code-switching is related to language
create an effective function of the lecture, processing and inference of L1 (Zhou &
to facilitate the learner to improve Wei, 2007). It is the conversational
second language learning & so on. approach uses to establish norms or
The main purpose of this research destroy group boundaries to create,
is to look into student’s insight about evoke or change interpersonal relations
their teachers who switch codes from (Gal, 1988). It is also considered the
English to Urdu. Code-switching is speech style in which
considered a golden opportunity for bilingual/multilingual speakers move in
teachers to deliver their lecture or out of two or more languages during
successfully (Bhatti, A., Shamsudin, S., the conversation (Macswan, 1999, p.37).
Said, S., 2018) and it gives chance to Many research studies in the code-
students to clear their concepts and get switching phenomenon have been
good grades in intermediate board carried out with various perspectives &
exams. But unfortunately, teachers who approaches.
use the Urdu language along with English The issue of effective English
are being criticized by the administration language learning in Pakistan is
& those teachers are considered influenced by the pedagogical
unskilled in the English language, consideration of teachers. There is no

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single theory that is all compressive & perceptions of teachers and students
compacting to improve language about CS at an intermediate level. A
learning in the local context (Shamim, F., qualitative method was deployed to find
Rashid, U., 2019). out the answers to the research question.
Inter-language theory of Sclinker, The reason for selecting qualitative
F., (1972) was employed to formulate the research is because it involves direct
theoretical framework that escorted the experience & it makes the researcher be
study & assisted in drawing a conceptual able to understand and interpret the
perspective of Code-switching in the setting (Rahman, 2016). Furthermore,
Pakistani context. this research aimed to obtain complete
Inter-language theory by Sclinker, information in a real situation that
F., (1972) as cited in Johannes, 2017) happens in intermediate classrooms.
refers to the “gradual process of learning This study was conducted in the
the L2 form L1”. Johanes (2017) believes well renowned private intermediate
that teachers should be aware of the institute, where the classes majorly
gradual process of L2, he also claims that contain mixed ability students who
the concept of Inter-language helps constantly need extra attention from
enliven the students to observe their teachers during lectures. The
errors & mistakes during their class. participants were selected based on
Alam, S. (2006) researched code- Purposive Sampling because, in this
switching in the Bangladeshi context. sampling, participants are selected
They examine the necessity of code- deliberately to get important
switching in the academic setting. They information that cannot be obtained
concluded that code-switching plays a from other alternatives (Maxwell, 1996).
pivotal role in socio-cultural society & to The medium of instruction at the
progress & develop, the Bangladeshi selected college for the lecture is English.
people need to learn the art of code- However, teachers often switch codes to
switching to improve their lack of facilitate all students & this code-
proficiency in English. switching is one of the reasons private
The comparative study was also colleges produce good results in
prosecuted by Ahmed, R. Ahemed, R. intermediate exams (Azlan, Narasuman,
Seemab, G. (2015). The research study 2012).
was made to explore the trend of code- A total of five different subject
switching in Urdu EFL classes. They teachers from the college participated in
concluded their research that code- an interview and shared their opinions
switching plays a significant role to make about the concept of code-switching that
students confident & it also motivates the they use unconsciously during their
students to learn SL properly. classes. Besides, five students from the
Gulzar, S., M. (2014) also Second Year Pre-medical class also have
researched the same domain. The main appeared in an interview to provide their
objective of his research was to find out perceptions about code-switching during
the role of code-switching in EFL classes. the lecture.
His research study provides shreds of
evidence that code-switching serves as a Data collection tools
great deal of function in EFL classroom A Semi-Structured interview tool was
and it also assists unskilled students to employed to collect data for this small
exhibit an interest in class to improve the scale research study. The semi-
learning & understanding process faster. structured interview has a list of
questions to be called an interview guide
METHODS (Bryman, A., 2016). The interview guide
for this research study was adapted from
This research study aims to explore the Schweer’s (1999) to get reliable data

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from the participants. The interview teacher switches the code during her
guide was also served as a guideline for lecture.
research to get rich answers from Code-switching helps them to grasp
interviewees. the concept
Furthermore, interviews are also During the interview one of the students
flexible as they tell the perception of the replied to a question about teachers'
participant about a topic. code-switching in class,
The interviews were conducted
using an interview guide which was SM1: "I think it’s good to do code-
prepared to show the direction to the switching because sometimes we don’t get
issues related to research objectives. or grasp the concept in English so if the
teacher repeats in Urdu, our concept
Data analysis would get much clear... If the teacher
The researcher did a thematic analysis to switches code, it helps us to think out of the
explore students' and teachers' box. Code-switching helps us to write
perceptions about Code-switching. clearly and according to the questions too
Students’ and teachers' perceptions were during class work".
recorded through structured interviews.
Five students from Pre-medical classes The interviewee revealed that they
and five lecturers other than English remain attentive & vigilant during class if
participated in the study. Students’ and the teacher switches the code during
teachers' perceptions have been lecture, and it helps them to write the
categorized into four and five major answer properly.
themes. For participants anonymity
codes were assigned to participants. Code-switching improves the attitude
Students from the Pre-medical group of students & motivate them
were assigned SM with numerical 1 to 5 Another student believed that teacher
and teachers were given T code with should switch the code as it helps them to
numerical 1 to 5. enhance their vocabulary & make them
be focused in class.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION One of the interviewees replied to
question no. 2(see appendix 1)
The current study explored the
perceptions of students as well as SM2: "Because of CS, we can ask the
teachers about code-switching in teacher because we are not afraid of the
intermediate college classrooms. Many wrong English or other students would
research studies assert that code- make fun of us. Due to code-switching we
switching plays a pivotal role in catering can ask and speak what we have in the
to students' learning needs in mind at that moment. CS provides us with
classrooms. The findings of semi- the confidence to ask questions from our
structured interview from students and teacher".
teachers are discussed below.
1. Findings of students' perceptions Therefore, the student's answer revealed
about teachers' code-switching that code-switching motivates students
Thematic analysis of the interview to participate in class confidently.
showed that all participants
demonstrated high interest in the use of Code-switching helps students in
code-switching & they favor positive mastering the language
acknowledgement towards the practice.
The analysis of data revealed that During the interview, four students out of
students take more interest in class if the five favored the idea that CS helps them
to improve their speaking & listening

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skills because if the teacher is giving because of their audience (students).

lectures in both languages then after They also revealed that if it seems that
some time their minds would they are unable to apprehend the notion
automatically begin to translate the of the topic so ultimately teacher adopts
concept & gradually it would improve the strategy of code-switching for better
their interpreting skills. As student 1 lecture delivery as one of those teachers
replied the Q: 4 (see appendix 1) said:

SM: 1: “Yes, Code-switching does help in T:4: “If my students don’t seem to
improving English, as when the teacher comprehend my lecture due to one
explains a certain thing in English & tell us language, so it means I am the controller
the same thing in Urdu, we get to know the of the class than a facilitator because I am
concept more clearly. This is how we not realizing my students' need and
remember the new word and phrase and preferring to focus more on English
can use it in another context”. language”.

The above statement of teacher shows

Code-switching helps to produce that for facilitating the students, teachers
better board results switch code as per need because the
objective of their teaching is not to make
All five participants agreed that CS plays them proficient in the English language
a pivotal role in producing good board but to achieve learning outcomes.
results as teachers already have
explained them in both languages so
students can attempt the paper & can Code-switching is better for high-
produce better results because students grade intermediate board results
have already grasped the concept. As
student 3 answered question 5: During an interview with teachers, all
teachers agreed that CS plays a pivotal
SM: 3: “We were already aware of two role in producing good board results. The
languages in class. Sometimes when stuck medium of instruction for the teacher is
in a question, we translate it into the in English, and they are restricted to
language in our mind that helps us to speak English during lectures. However,
write the answer in English during board the class situation is different, as each
exams”. class consists of mix ability groups & they
are not experts in English. So the teacher
2. Teachers' perception of code- has to switch codes to bring good board
switching results. The Following is the response of
Five lecturers have also appeared in a one of the teachers regarding whether
semi-structured interview. The Thematic code-switching helps to bring good
analysis of the interview revealed that all board results or not.
the teachers including English lecturers
switch code during teaching to serve T: 2 & T: 5: “At intermediate level in
effective & repertoire functions. Code- Pakistan, teachers are recognized, and
switching also helps them to achieve the promoted based on our board results. If
learning outcomes and objectives of the the results would not be as the institute's
lesson. expectations, nobody would ask about our
Teachers switch for better lecture medium of instruction in the class
delivery throughout the year. However, we would
be asked about the reason for such bad
During the interview, all teachers results. That is why we need to switch
reported that they switch the code codes in class to facilitate every individual.

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So that in the end, the slow learner would Code-switching hinders in language
also bring good grades in the intermediate proficiency
board”. One of the lecturers replied to the
question asked about the disadvantages
The teachers pointed out that they are of code-switching.
not in class to improve the language
proficiency of students. They can help T: 2: “I think, the only disadvantage of CS
pupils to improve their language skills, besides all the advantages is that we are
however, teachers' main objective is to paying attention to improving foreign
bring good board results & this is the language skills. We do not provide them
core reason for their promotion in the with an environment where they indulge
institute. themselves & try to speak only English...
Hence, I believe the teacher should avoid
Code-switching helps to break the code-switching as much as possible”.
communication barrier between
student & teacher The comparative study by Johanes
Two of the teachers also disclosed that (2017) also asserted that code-switching
code-switching helps students & code-mixing is associated with failure
communicate with the teacher more to learn the English language. Moreover,
confidently. They share their opinions or there are also chances of errors during
ask a question due to code-switching translation. He concluded his research
during the lecture. However, if they use dissertation by suggesting teachers be
only English in class, students feel limited in code-switching to enable
hesitant to inquire about their queries. students to master the language.
One of the reasons can be fear of
speaking wrong in class. CONCLUSION
As one of the Physics lecturers replied to
the question how you would improve the One of the aims of this research study
communication gap by using CS? (See was to investigate the students' and
appendix -2) teachers' perception of code-switching in
class and to what extend it can play its
T: 1: “When I am explaining derivation in role to get success in improving the
the class, I notice students want me to language & in generating good board
speak English & Urdu. You know, physics is results.
a conceptual subject. If I would keep on The result of the research study
giving a lecture in English, consequently indicates that students prefer a
they tend to be more confused at the end combination of English and Urdu in their
of the lecture & may avoid asking the classes. Moreover, they also showed
question because the very first step of themselves as a willing learner who
derivation would not be cleared to them tends to learn and speak English
so, they must be scared asking the confidently.
question from me.” On the other hand, teachers who
use code-switching in class are well
Thus, CS is the great trigger that breaks prepared, well planned & have clear
all kinds of communication barriers of objectives for the lesson. The teachers
students. tended to switch codes in those
situations where they find students
3. Drawbacks of code-switching confused and unable to grasp the
The interviewer also inquired about the scientific concept. Moreover, they
drawbacks of CS & a few of the responses sometimes get compelled to use CS due
are as follows. to the struggling learners in their class.

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APPENDIX -1 APPENDIX -2
Students’ Interview Guide
1. What do you think about the CS of Teachers’ Interview Guide
your subject teacher? Do you 1. In what situations do you choose to
think you enjoy lectures if the speak Urdu?
teacher switches the code? 2. Do you think CS can improve
2. Do you think CS allow you to intermediate results?
enhance your vocabulary skills & 3. What do you think, can CS improve the
motivate you to learn the communication gap between you & your
concept? students?
3. What do you like to deliver the 4. Are there advantages to changing the
lecture, in English only or Urdu or language to Urdu in your teaching?
code-switching? & why 5. Are there disadvantages to changing
4. Do you think CS can improve the language to Urdu when you teach?
your language skills? 6. Is your choice of language different
5. What do you think CS helps you depending on which one of your classes
to improve your board results? you are teaching?

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